Orphaned Twist of Fate
by sunny-kat-forever
Summary: After the war with Voldemort, house rivalry remains. Dumbledore comes up with a plan to unify the school through a little project and unlikely pairing will ensue.  Can Ginny and Draco get past their hate to help a certain orphan girl? Ignores DH. r&r plz


"DRACO MALFOY!!!" echoed the high-pitched scream through the fourth-floor hallway, followed by a loud BANG! Dozens of innocent spectators turned their heads to watch the Slytherin in question fly ten feet away from his initial standing position and land with an unpleasant thud on the hard, marble ground.

"What the hell Weaselette?" He shouted standing up and glaring at the raging Gryffindor opposite off him, her wand smoking from the hex she just fired at him.

"You know bloody well what!" she shrieked.

"Don't think I don't know who stole the Gryffindor flag that was originally hanging in the common room! What did you do with it? And while we are on the topic of stealing, I know your stole my journal from my dormitory, along with Neville's frog and the Gryffindor Flag! Give it back or you'll regret it Ferret Face!"

More students began to gather as the conflict unfolded making the hallway crowded. This did not seem to deter either Ginny or Malfoy, who was currently wearing a satisfied smirk.

"So quick to make accusations Weaselette," he drawled. "Haven't you ever stopped to consider that it was your inherited stupidity that caused your to lose your precious journal? Or the fact that Longbottom always loses his sorry excuse of a pet? And why, pray tell, would I even need a moldy Gryffindor banner? I'm sure I have better ways to use my time than to steal your pathetic items. Time is money Weasley, but I doubt your family ever told you that, judging by their pov-"

"OH SHUT IT!" Ginny interrupted him. "I placed a charm on my journal so that if it were stolen, I would know who the criminal is, in this case you. Give it back before I curse you into a toad as a replacement for Neville's stolen one," she growled threateningly.

She knew for a fact that Malfoy had her journal, and probably read it from cover to cover. Now she needed to control the damage. It was true that she more than skilled enough to curse him into oblivion, and leave it to his mother to pick up random severed parts, but she could not obliviate everybody that he would spill her secrets to. If he would reveal anything big, she would surely fling herself off of the Astronomy Tower.

To her great unease, Malfoy's smirk grew even wider, reminding her of a look that Crookshanks got when he just caught and ate his dinner.

"I think not Weasley," he murmured. "It was so clever of you to cast that charm, I wouldn't have expected it of you, but I suppose I shall have to come clean."

With this he slowly (knowing it caused her great apprehensive agony), took out a black, leather bound book.

"But if I come clean," he whispered just loud enough for everyone else to hear, clearly enjoying the suspense before dropping the bomb, "So will you."

Ginny suddenly noticed how much people there were in the hall, and how quiet it got. Everyone was waiting for whatever would happen next. This was not good.

"Oi! What's going on in here? Why are we all standing in a crowded hallway?" Ron had just arrived from dinner to witness the scene with the rest of the Golden Trio.

"Ginny," Hermione called behind rows of people, "Are you alright?"

At that moment Harry spotted Malfoy standing opposite of Ginny, grinning like it was Christmas come early. This was not good. Grabbing a very confused Ron and a worried Hermione, he shuffled past people to get close."

"Just in time Potter" called Malfoy. "You too Weasel. You are about to witness me read you dear Weasel sister's diary."

"You've gone too far Malfoy!" cried Ginny. This was bad. Very bad. She aimed several curses at him, but they were all deflected by his fellow Slytherins, all snickering appreciatively at their leader's clever plan.

"Tsk, Tsk, Weasley, where are your manners?" He drawled. "Surely a noble Gryffindor such as yourself knows not to attack an unaware person doing a bit of light reading. But I shall have to teach you a lesson, yes, lets me start from the beginning. It will make more sense," he muttered, not even looking up from the journal.

"Give it back to her Malfoy!" Ron was as red as his hair with indignation, next to him Harry, fully prepared to strangle the life out of Malfoy if need be.

But their threats and hexes we also in vain, as Malfoy was once again rescued by his Slytherin body guards. The crowd watched, as Malfoy languidly flipped the pages of the journal to the very beginning and started reading.

'"September the first, nine pm,"' he read, '"I cannot believe I am at Hogwarts, my dream has finally come true. I have been sorted into Gryffindor, like the rest of my family. I am particularly happy about this. It seems I am completely head over heels for a boy named Harry Potter'" At this Malfoy looked up and drawled,

"Oh look Scarhead, the rest of the page and a half are about you!" The rest of the Slytherins howled with laughter as Malfoy spent extra care reading and emphasizing almost every word to make them sound much worse than they would have normally.

Ginny, Harry, and even Ron were beet red with embarrassment and fury. They were helpless to do anything, and it looked like Malfoy was just warming up.

"Aha!" He cried, "Here is a really good one. February 14, 8:30 pm. 'Today is Valentine's day, and probably one of the worst days in my life. I sent Harry my singing Valentine, but it turned out to be a complete disaster. Not only was it a horrible poem, it was also a big embarrassment. I think he hates me now. He was avoiding me the whole day.' How tragic Weasley." Malfoy commented.

The Slytherins were now holding onto their stomachs, and many people in the audience were also laughing. Harry was sincerely regretting ever getting into the middle of the crowd, as now there were no escapes. He would have to either kill himself or endure it, and the first option seemed much nicer.

Malfoy meanwhile, slowly scrolled his finger from page to page, obviously looking for something very embarrassing, while occasionally making lazy comments that Ginny leads a very boring life.

"Oh my! This has got to be my personal favorite" he exclaimed.

"Here, listen to this. 'When Harry could not attend the Quidditch match due to his detention,"'

Ginny recognized that entry. It was positively one of the worst to be read by Malfoy. Not only would she embarrass herself, but Harry and Ron too. Her face paled as she listened on.

'"--the whole team thought that we stand no chance. But somehow we had pulled it all through and won. Just as the party was blazing, Harry climbed in through the portrait hole, and was surrounded by an uproar. The whole team was clamming around him. As I ran to hug him, he suddenly pulled me back and kissed me. To be honest, it wasn't the best kiss I had ever experienced. Actually it was a bit messy. It occurred to me that I have a bit more experience than Harry, but it still quite awkward. I did not tell him though, he would be upset.'"

At this Malfoy gleefully looked up at Harry and hollered, "Great Merlin Potter, are you that bad? Are you that bad that you can't even satisfy a lowly Weasel?" By this time, most of the hall was laughing, even Seamus, Harry's friend was trying to hide his snickering. He knew that his skills were quite good, as he had been told by many girls, including Ginny many years ago. Listening to Harry's lack of experience when it comes to dealing with girls, as mean as it may be, made his day.

Ginny covered her face in her hands. It seemed easiest to commit suicide. She would have given anything to get the earth to swallow her up. But Malfoy wasn't finished.

'"Harry and I started dating, and though his kissing dramatically improved, he still has a long way to go. He is very sweet though. Ron is not mad about our relationship, and I consider myself lucky about this. He still gets annoyed, but I think now that he had a good snog, he will leave me to my business. I think he finally stopped kissing the picture of Auntie Muriel, or the picture of Fleur Delacour that was stashed under his pillow. Pathetic as it is, for Ron that is big progress."'

At this point Malfoy stopped reading because he was shaking. With the Slytherins rolling on the ground, and the rest of the hallway echoing with laughter, Harry, Ron, and Ginny knew that this incident, when finally over, will not be forgotten.

Recovering, Malfoy started taunting Ron. "Weasel, you cannot possibly be telling me that you are worse than Potter! How often do you kiss your Aunt's picture, eh Weasel? I would shudder to think what that picture is feeling. Being snogged by you is probably worse than enduring the Cruciatus Curse!"

"That's enough Malfoy!" Hermione shouted. "This has gone too far. Give Ginny back her diary, and that's an order from the Head Girl."

Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "But wouldn't you first like to hear an entry about yourself in there Granger? Here let me find it for y--"

He was suddenly interrupted by a stern, hard voice that rang across the hall.

"What's going on here?" Professor McGonagall has finally arrived on the scene and was giving them all very sharp stares.

"Well? Can someone please explain to me the need for half the school population to be gathered in a hallway with only ten minutes left until curfew?"

"Please Professor," answered Hermione, "Malfoy stole Ginny's diary and is reading it out to everybody. He won't give it back."

"He also stole the Gryffindor banner and Neville's toad, but I don't know how he sneaked into our common room." Ginny finally lifted her face from her hands and was determined to see Malfoy pay.

Professor McGonagall's nostril's flared and her lips thinned, as she demanded, "Mister Malfoy is this true?"

"Professor, I was merely making a joke with Weasley, I did not mean any-"

"Enough!" interrupted Professor McGonagall. "What you did was very wrong and immature! Stealing in Hogwarts is unacceptable! Mister Malfoy, I expected better of you. It appears I was mistaken. You will return all of the stolen items back to their rightful owners. You will also serve detention each Saturday at eight o'clock for two months with Mr. Filch and I am deducting 50 points form Slytherin for such horrible behavior. I will also be notifying Professor Snape and the Headmaster of this. Is that clear?"

"But Professor, Weasley is the one that started this whole thing. She hexed me and then tried to do it again! That is also unfair!" Malfoy whined.

"You filthy git!" shouted Ginny, "You deserved all of that and more!"

"Silence Ms. Weasley," snapped McGonagall, "I am afraid that hexing students in hallways is also against the rules, so you will have one detention this Saturday with Mr. Malfoy and fifteen points will be deducted form Gryffindor."

"As for the rest of you," she continued, "It is now five minutes past your curfew and I do not want to have to deduct more points. Now quietly return to your respective dormitories."

Malfoy marched up to Ginny and handed her the diary, speaking low enough for McGonagall not to hear. "Too bad McGonagall came so soon, I could have had much more fun. You have some interesting stories in there, and it will be my pleasure to divulge them to anyone willing to listen. See you at detention Weaselette." With that he smirked, turned around and walked off before Ginny could come up with an angry retort.

The rest of the students already left, clearly not wanting to test Professor McGonagall's wrath. Ginny was left with the prospect of facing Ron, Harry and Hermione on the way to the common room. The four of them walked in a tense silence until Harry couldn't take it.

"Why didn't you tell me I was that bad at kissing?" he demanded, going red again. "I mean, I thought we were perfectly okay and now a year later I have to find out like this and we aren't even dating anymore?"

"Harry please understand," pleaded Ginny, "I didn't want to hurt your feeling, besides, like you heard yourself, you got loads better and kissing was not the only thing I was looking for. I liked your for you! What I wrote down was coming from my private thoughts. I bet you have thoughts that seem normal to you but shouldn't be revealed, everyone does! I didn't tell this to anyone, and I didn't mean offence. It's not my fault that Malfoy stole my diary. I don't know how, because it was hidden in my room."

"Slimy, Ferrety Git!" Ron spat. "Never changes, not even after the war. You'd think it matured him. Oi and Ginny, how come you wrote I kissed pictures, huh? You know perfectly well that I don't!"

At this Hermione let out a giggle, causing Ron to glare at her. Hermione gave him an apologetic look.

"I know you don't," Ginny continued, "I was making fun of you. If you are even thinking of being angry, think of how this will affect me! I was the main target, and I will get teased mercilessly! Now, on top of everything else," her voice was now rising with fury, "I have to serve detention with the git!"

"I think we should all go to bed and plan revenge later," Hermione intervened. "We'll talk next morning; it's going to be a weekend anyway."

They bid each other good night, and went to their dormitories.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a different part of the castle a staff meeting was taking full session. 

"This can't go on Albus," sighed Professor McGonagall. She was pacing up and down the staffroom. The rest of the staff looked on, deep in thought.

"My dear Minerva, if I would know of a way to prevent the hatred between houses, I would. I would have thought that after we all united to fight against Voldemort, and defeated him, all this hostility and competition would be gone. It appears otherwise," spoke Dumbledore, his voice aged and tired, but still containing energy.

"It appears to me Headmaster," came Snape's murmur, "That our concern are not the whole Gryffindor and Slytherin houses, but just Potter, Weasley, Ms. Weasley, and Granger."

"Well do not forget Severus that young Mr. Malfoy is also head to toe involved with this!" Snapped McGonagall

"Now is not the time to argue whose fault this is," Lupin spoke up. After the war, he was appointed the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, and would likely stay for good, despite his lycanthropy. He was, after all, a very good teacher. "We have to find a way to bring these houses together. It is not just Harry or Draco, lots of students are letting their house judgments get in the way of friendship."

"What we need," Professor Flitwick squeaked up, "is a way to unify the houses. Last time this happened because we were fighting for a common cause – to kill Voldemort. What we need is an activity, one that would unite people together. They can work out their differences by working for a common cause."

Suddenly, the door opened and Professor Sprout burst in, completely out of breath. "Pardon my lateness Albus, I knew there was a meeting, but as you know I volunteer to help the orphans whose parents died in the war, and there was a hold up."

Dumbledore suddenly stood up. "How many orphans are there?" he asked.

Professor Sprout blinked. "Oh I don't know Albus, maybe around a hundred. Couldn't be more, there were not that much wizarding families to begin with. Poor things, most of them under seven and already lost their parents."

"And how are the conditions of their current living quarters?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Oh not too good," replied Professor Sprout, shaking her head sadly, "Quite shabby actually. The food isn't that good, and they are cramped, six of them for a small room."

Dumbledore thought for a moment, then clapped his hands together. "I believe that I have our answer," he exclaimed.

The rest of the staff stared, not quite catching onto Dumbledore's latest idea.

Dumbledore must have noticed this, for he sat back down, and calmly stated "I apologize for keeping you in the dark. Allow me to explain. You see, if Hogwarts were to host these children, I believe our problem will be solved."

"But Albus," McGonagall interrupted, "What are you talking about, how will take care of them? And how will this help our current problem?"

"Ah but I was getting to that," replied Dumbledore, "As I was saying, the orphans will stay with us at Hogwarts, but we will assign our sixth and seventh year students to take care of them. Each student will be assigned a partner from another house and opposite gender; together they will care about an orphan. It will be like a new family for them. I believe Hogwarts is large enough to provide dormitories for the children, and our students will watch over them. Students will work together and they will have to put their differences aside. This might just solve our conflicts."

The rest of the staff considered this for a moment. Professor Snape seemed unconvinced.

"Just how do we know that our students will do a good job of caring for them? Many fail to provide their homework on time. Do you really think that some of the dunderheads in this school are capable to manage this responsibly?"

"I believe Severus," Professor McGonagall spoke up after a moment's contemplation, "That this 'project' will actually help them improve their responsibility skills. I am with the Headmaster. The orphans will also benefit, at least they will have proper food here, as well as nice living quarters."

"Yes," agreed Lupin, "They will be better off here, and if anything does seem to go wrong, any of the staff will be able to help with the matter."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore, "If we are all in agreement, then I will immediately write to the ministry with my proposition. I believe our meeting is over. Good night to you all."

The rest of the staff nodded and stood up, each deep in thought about this new plan. One by one, they left the staff room.


End file.
